Separator



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. M. PINCE.

l SEPARATOR. No. 499,915.- PatentedJune 20, 1893.

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(No Model.) 2 sheets-.sheet '2.

J. M. PINCE.

SEPARATOR. i, No. 499,915. Patented June 20, 1893.

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JOHN M. FINCH, OF MARYSVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

SEPARATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 499,915, dated T une 20, 1893.

Application filed December 24, 1892. Serial No. 456,257. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern..-

Be it known that I, JOHN M. FINCH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marysville, Yuba county, State of California, have inventedan Improvement in Separators; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to that class of machines for separating material composed of particles of dierent specific gravities, in which a current4 of air is directed upon the falling material, said machines being known as air or gravity separators or purifiers, and particularly designed for separating or purifying middlings in iiour mills.

My invention consists essentially in a rotating cage to which the material is fed, the periphery of said cage being so constructed as to retain and constantly raise and drop the material, and of an open character to freely permit the passage of a current of air'through it, and suitable means for creating and directing a current of air through the open periphery of said cage'and against the constant-- ly'falling material whereby the latter is repeatedly subjected to said current.

It also consists in the particular construction and arrangement of the parts of the machine hereinafter described, and representing the best form in which my invention is elnbodied. In this form is partially embodied the principle of the continuous or repeatedly used air current of the Patent No. 400,201, issued to me jointly with John R. Cross March 26, 1889, and upon which in one sense my present invention is an improvement.

The objects of my invention will hereinaf-4 ter fully appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invent1on,-Figure 1 is a cross section on .the line -w of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line fy-y of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the irregular line z-z of Fig. 1.

A is a frame or stand in which is supported the downwardly directing main casing B, the walls of which extend lengthwise of the frame, and terminate with the innermost of the double end walls a thereof, which said end walls form the passages a through one of which the material is fed, and through anouter end of the shaft o.

other of which it is discharged. Within the casing B is mounted the rotating cage. This yis formed of end heads o, mounted upon a shaft o andv having extending between them the inclined slats C which form the periphery of the cage. These slats are separated from one another, but the plane ofthe outer edge of one overlaps the plane. of the inner edge of the one in advance, whereby, though the Whole periphery is of a character sufficiently open to permit the free passage of an air current, it will retain the material within it, on its uprising side. The arrow indicates the direction of rotation of the cage, which rotation is imparted in any suitable manner, as from the pulley o2 (Fig. 3) applied to the The whole cage is slightly inclined in the direction of its length as is shown in Fig. 3. The passage ct at the head delivers the material into the cage, and the passage a at the foot receives it from the cage, the slats C being at the lower end cut away as shown at c3 to permit the discharge of the material therefrom.

The top of the casing B is provided with a 'hood b which extends down to the cage and terminates in a line a little in advance of the upper extremity of the vertical diameter .of the cage. NVith'in the upper portion of this hood is a fan D, driven by suitable means as from the pulley d shown in Fig. 3. Under the fan is a segment shield d which terminates ina partition E, provided with a swinging valve F, operated by a handle f on the outer end of its axis f. From the base of this partitionsprings a casing G which encircles the back and lower portion of the cage and extends up in front of it to about the horizontal plane of the end of the hood, but separated from it. The course ofthe air current is indicated by the arrows.

In the bottom of casing B is a conveyer I-I for receiving and discharging the worthless materials separated from the stock within the cage and dropped out of the air current in its course.

The operation of the machine is as follows: The overlapping slats are arranged in such a manner that when the cage is'revolved the material will slip or fall from one slat to another, and will be carried up to a point where the weight of the material will overcome the IOO friction upon the slats: and the rapidity with which the cage is revolved will largely determine this point. As the cage is inclined, it follows that the material introduced at the high or head end will gradually work toward the foot or low end, and thereby making the slats narrower, as shown at c3, or by leaving the end open, it will discharge or pass out.

The fan wheel above the cage has blades the entire length, and will set in motion a current of air which will move with the fan until it meets the segment shield d beneath whereby it is prevented from continuing'with the fan, but is sent downward. If now the valve F is closed as shown in Fig. 1, the air must pass down behind and under the casing G vwhich i partially encircles the cage, as described, i thence up and over the end of said casing and downintothe cage; thence up and out of the i cageand back to the fan,comp1etingthecircuit. New, as the material to be treated is constantly falling from slat to slat upon the side of the i cage, through which the air enters,it is evident that this air must pass through it, and any light particles not heavy enough t0 withstand the force of the current will be carried upf ward and out of the cage and to the fan, passi ing over the :fan and downward.

Here the force of gravity and momentum will throw it i out of the current of air into the conveyor H, the air passing on in its circuit. What little dust may accompany it is so light that it will i pass on with it and in no way interfere with the work to be accomplished. Now, if the valve F be open, the air has a shorter passage and will take it in preference to the'longer route i and no air will pass through the cage. Theref fore, by opening or closing this valve the amount of air passing through the cage may be regulated at will.

The improvement embodied in this machine l may be best made apparent by brief reference to other machines of this class, together with necessary comparisons.

In the machine heretofore mentioned as patented to Finch and Cross, the current of air as far as its continuous course is concerned, i

is used in a somewhat similar manner, but the material is fed into the current the entire length, the air passes once through it, and then the material drops away.

It is a very difficult'matter to so adjust the I air current that it will remove all of the ob- 1 j ectionable matter, and not carry away a considerable quantity of the material that should remain; for in many cases,x particnlarly in flour mills, the dilierence in the gravity of the particles to be separated is slight, and anyi change of feed or variation of fan speed causes 1 the machine to work irregularly. This ob.`

chinos of this class with which I am familiar.

`jection will apply with equal force to all mai Now,if.a weak current of air can be used, one that will not ca rry away anything but what f should be removed, and the material can be treated repeatedly until all has been removed L that shouldbe, an important and improved result will have been reached. To do this (as in some machines) by increasing the number of times and places, the current is made toy intersect a descending stream of material, is

open to the serious objection that the material- In my machine the material fed into theY cage is passed repeatedly through the same current, but `the material removed 1s taken from the air before it (the air) returns to its.

work, and the strength of the current is so slight that no trouble is experienced in taking away more than is desirablaor in dropping the dust from the air. No feeding device is required and the .machine is no more expensive to build, and takes no more space and power than others, while its work is better. It will be manifest, therefore, that the essential feature of my machine is a rotating cage `having its periphery sufficiently open to permit the free passage of the air current and yet so constructed as to re.tain"and to repeatledly raise and drop the material, and this feature is independent of any `means for creat- IOO ing or directing theair current, or of the manner of disposingof the material removed. I do not, therefore, confine myself to the means here shown `for eecting this current,

nor kto the manner of its application, for it is not essential that `the same air be return-ed to the cage, as fresh air may be introduced, and

be blown away by the fan after it has per- `formed its work. Nor do I wish to be re-y stricted to the particular course of the operation described, nor to the exact manner `of using the cage, for it is obvious that the air may be passed through the cage from the op' posite way, or it may be introduced at the ends and emerge from the periphery `or vice"` versa. These are but immaterial variations f in details of arrangement which do not alcct or alter the character of myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, .and desire to secure by Letters 1. In a separator the `combination of the main casing, the rotating cage located *therein having its periphery formed of separated overlapping slats cut away at one end, theA hood located above said cage the casing partially encircling the cage and forming with the hood an .air passage intersecting the `periphery of the cage on its uprising side, the fan located in the hood the double end walls forming feed and discharge passages and the worm conveyor at the bottom of the main Ycasing, substantially as herein described. i

2. In a separator the combination of the an air passage intersecting the periphery of ro main casing, a rotating cage therein to which the cage, substantially as herein described. the material is fed and having its periphery In witness whereof I have hereunto set my formed of separated overlapping slats, the hand. hood above the cage, the fan located therein the segment shield below said fan, the partition located in said hood belowr the shield, the Witnesses: swinging Valve connected with said partition, S. H. NOURSE, the casing partiallyencircling the cage and J. A. BAYLEss.

JOHN M. FINCI-I. 

